The Enid Blyton Society

MJE wrote:

Viv of Ginger Pop wrote:As far as I know, the castles that are on islands off Jersey look nothing like Norman castles.

     Ummm... how does a Norman castle look different from ones near Jersey? I guess, as an Australian, a castle is a castle is a castle to me

Of course, the original visual description of Kirrin Castle comes not from Enid, but from Eileen Soper. To me, a far more interesting castle is Faynights Castle that we visited in Five Have a Wonderful Time. I've not read of too many real locations that Faynights could be based on or inspired by!

Anita wrote:The Find-Outers often walk along the lane to the river, just as Enid did from Old Thatch

As in fact did Anita, Jane and me, back in June of this year!

Michael Edwards wrote:It does sort of sound like circumstantial evidence, with all those points of resemblance.

It certainly does! I'm with Tony on this one, if Enid didn't write it down, then it shouldn't be taken as Gospel!

I sometimes wonder if Enid wasn't deliberately vague/ambiguous about the exact locations and inspiration of her books.

She wasn't a stupid lady and seems to have held an intense dislike for the casual 'tripper' class if the numerous negative mentions of them in her work is anything to go by!

Is it possible she wanted to enjoy her holidays in Dorset and also her home life in Bourne End without Graceland style pilgrimages being made to these places she herself loved/lived by hoards of tripper like folk??

It seems that she was only willing to give precise details about Whispering Island etc etc in one of the Fives final adventures towards the very end of her writing career.
Its hard to imagine that heaps and heaps of her devoted fans hadn't already written to her for years and years asking/begging for more information about the inspiration for the places that her adventures were set.

Even today,you only have to look at an excellent topic on these forums 'A map of Peterswood' to see how much interest and juicy debate and speculation there still is on this enthralling topic.

There are many who say 'Its just fiction,whats the fuss?'.....and yet there are countless others who willingly travel right round the country and indeed the world to see where Enid lived,holidayed and possibly set her books!

What power from a humble ballpoint pen and a notepad or a battered old typewriter perched on the knee!

The pen/keystroke is indeed mightier than the sword!

pete9012S wrote:I sometimes wonder if Enid wasn't deliberately vague/ambiguous about the exact locations and inspiration of her books.

     Yes, this thought has certainly crossed my mind, although I never formed a definite belief one way or the other on this.
     Thinking about taking up writing Blytonian adventures as I am (after decades of leaving this form of writing alone), I am certainly thinking about what *I* will do about this. I definitely have a tendency to invent a place from scratch without basing it (even loosely) on a real place (although I might use *elements* of real places if they fit the setting I want to create). I am even considering leaving the *country* indeterminate (except that it will be an English-speaking country), and I do tend to avoid making culturally or socially specific references. I am even trying to make the exact time a little indeterminate, too.
     (It may be another matter whether over the length of a whole novel I will be able to succeed in leaving these things indeterminate. But that's currently my idea, at least until I find it impracticable.)

pete9012S wrote:Is it possible she wanted to enjoy her holidays in Dorset and also her home life in Bourne End without Graceland style pilgrimages being made to these places she herself loved/lived by hoards of tripper like folk??

     I wonder whether she would have thought a lot about that. Surely that kind of Graceland-style pilgrimage to locations made famous in fiction was hardly an existing phenomenon at that time? Yes, I imagine she probably did receive letters asking about the places that inspired the stories - but would the possibility of being flooded with tourists have been easily forseeable at that time, to the extent that it would motivate Blyton to deliberately leave places vague in her stories?

pete9012S wrote:Even today,you only have to look at an excellent topic on these forums 'A map of Peterswood' to see how much interest and juicy debate and speculation there still is on this enthralling topic.

     Not sure I've seen that - must look it up.

pete9012S wrote:... there are countless others who willingly travel right round the country and indeed the world to see where Enid lived,holidayed and possibly set her books!

     Do people really do this? Did they do it during Enid Blyton's life?

Regards, Michael.

pete9012S wrote: .....and yet there are countless others who willingly travel right round the country and indeed the world to see where Enid lived,holidayed and possibly set her books!

Indeed there are, as a group of us did only this June, to see Old Thatch where Enid lived, and Bourne End which was supposed to be Peterswood. I went over to Beaconsfield to see exactly where Green Hedges once stood, and I also took a photo of the house which stood next door to Enid's which is still standing!.

Split from 'General Natter Room'.

sorry to interupted,... just quick questions..
What is again the hometown for each gangs? My knowledge is :
- Famous Five = Dorset , specifically Corfe Castle area
- Five Find-Outers = Bourne End, Buckinghamshire
- Barney Mystery = London area
- Secret Seven = ???
- Adventure series = ???
- Secret Series = ???
thanks and good morning

Adventure series- Wales?
Secret Seven- also Bourne End? Or somewhere nearby?

The Adventure series has several locations. Wales and Cornwall (Craggy Tops).

You're right, Chrissie. The only series that I could not really say its location is Secret series. Hope someone will let us know.

Chrissie777 wrote:The Adventure series has several locations. Wales and Cornwall (Craggy Tops).

And Austria, the Middle East and the Greek islands!

The Secret Seven location is as anonymous as most of Enid's imaginary places! Some descriptions do fit various actual places and it's assumed she got inspiration from these.

Daisy wrote:

Chrissie777 wrote:The Adventure series has several locations. Wales and Cornwall (Craggy Tops).

And Austria, the Middle East and the Greek islands!

And Scotland and the North Sea... and indeed Tauri-Hessia.

hi guys, cool replies. However, actually I was referring to the hometown of each team. I couldn't locate where Phillips and co's house / starting point before they went to adventure in Scotland, Wales and Europe.

Hometown for Secret Series:

Secret Mountain 1:41 wrote:Half-term came, and the four of them went to London, where they were to stay for three days at their parents’ flat. Miss Dimmy, an old friend of theirs, was to look after them for that short time. Prince Paul was to join them that evening. He had to go and see his own people first, in another part of London.

A fictitious hometown is rarely mentioned either. It may be given a name - like Kirrin or Peterswood and we guess Kirrin is somewhere on the south coast and Peterswood is loosely based on Bourne End which is on the Thames. Usually, "somewhere in England" is the best we can do!

Good point Liam... I'd forgotten that mention of London. I wonder which 'aerodrome' Bill's plane was at the start of Valley of Adventure too. If that was Croydon, then the Mannerings were also on the London area.